


I'm fine! Really.

by sunkissedbuzzard



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Angst, Caves, Dewey centric, Family Fluff, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Sibling Moments, and della is a great mom, cave ins, donald duck (mentioned) - Freeform, enjoy :], huey louie and webby are great siblings, i couldnt sleep so i wrote this, minor character injury, no ships also
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:26:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28088472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunkissedbuzzard/pseuds/sunkissedbuzzard
Summary: Dewey finds himself injured after a cave-in on an adventure, and finds his family taking care of him (whether he wants them to or not).AKA: Dewey insists that he does not need help, while his family worries over him anyways.tw - caves and cave-ins, as well as minor character injury
Relationships: Della Duck & Dewey Duck, Dewey Duck & Huey Duck & Louie Duck & Webby Vanderquack, Dewey Duck & Scrooge McDuck
Comments: 1
Kudos: 44





	I'm fine! Really.

**Author's Note:**

> dedicated to someone i know who will probably read this <3 ! i wouldn't have had the motivation to finish this otherwise lol

Dewey hated being coddled.

He was _Dewey Duck!_ An adventurer! Braver of the unknown! He didn’t need his family to take care of him. 

“You’re also Dewey Duck, _child_ of Della Duck,” His mother chimed softly when he brought this up. She tucked him into the bed carefully, fluffing his pillows to ensure maximum comfortability.

He’d awoken in one of the guest rooms in McDuck manor. His bunk bed wasn’t exactly great for situations like these, apparently. “So? I’m fine! It was just a little scratch!” The duckling insisted. His arms had crossed, and his foot tapped lightly. 

It, of course, had not been a little scratch. 

—

The cave rumbled and roared. A sound akin to rain bubbled through the large rock opening, only it wasn’t rain falling - it was debris.

“A cave-in!” Huey yelped. He recognized the signs like the back of his hand (thanks to his trusty JWG).

Dewey felt his chest grow tight and cold. Only for a few moments, before he pushed that feeling away. It wasn’t like they hadn’t faced cave-ins before, right? He shook himself and began to follow his brothers to the cave exit. Noise began to fill the cave even more, large thumps shaking the small space.

Wait.

Where was his mom? Or his uncle?

Dewey slowed to a stop. He spun around in search of them. It was dark, and upon looking back - he could really see the damage the cave was taking. If he didn’t know any better, it was gonna collapse completely. And _soon._ His chest tightened again, and the breath he needed felt out of reach. His feathers seemed to puff out, too, although he hardly noticed that. Regardless, he headed back in towards the cave. Dewey needed to find them - what if they couldn’t find their way out and got stuck? He was _not_ losing them to a dumb cave-in. (And saving his family was pretty heroic, wasn’t it? Cue the classic Dewey heroic Save His Mom and Uncle Plan!)

The blue-clad duckling heard some noise not far off. He moved towards it. Rocks fell all around him, forcing him to zigzag to avoid getting hit by them. 

“Della! Come on, lass, we got ta’ get out of here!” The familiar gruff voice of his great uncle hit his ears. His mother hummed “Yeah!” in agreement not long after.

“Uncle Scrooge! Mom!” Dewey stopped not far from them.

“Dewey! What are you still doing in here? The cave is-“

“Caving in, I know,” He answered for his mom. “Let’s go!” Dewey wasted no time, grabbing his mom’s hand and dashing back the way he’d come. He could lead them out, they’d all be safe, it was gonna be fine!He kept running. After years of adventuring, his lungs had grown fairly strong. His mother and uncle weren’t far behind him (he knew Della was close because she and him were still holding hands, and Scrooge was - well - Scrooge). It wasn’t long before the exit came back in sight. They were almost in the clear. 

He felt a smirk dance along his face, along with the familiar feeling of adrenaline tingling his bones. Dewey’s chest was no longer tight, perhaps due to his sudden rush of confidence. 

They were gonna make it!

“Lad, look out!”

He hadn’t heard in time.

Suddenly, he found himself pinned to the ground. A heavy weight, almost like a far-too-heavy comfort blanket (which reminded him of the time Uncle Donald had put exactly that on him and his brothers by accident so many years ago) settled onto his back. What the heck..?

The next thing he knew, his eyes were fluttering closed. 

—

Now, he would admit, his body ached rather painfully. His head had bandages around it, and his back had some too, he discovered after feeling out his pains. His feathers were probably all messed up too, much to his dismay. That was gonna take forever to fix - not to mention preening his head and back feathers to his liking was already terribly difficult. He didn’t really remember much before waking up an hour or two ago. Besides the cave-in, as he’d been filled in as to what happened then by his mother.

Who knew getting a giant rock dropped on you could be so painful?

“Just a little scratch?” His mom asked incredulously. She shook her head lightly. “You’re staying in bed, young man, and that’s not up for debate.” 

He sighed dramatically, flopping back into his pillows. His head churned lightly at the action, causing a small hiss of pain to escape him.

Note to self: Don’t make sudden movements. Apparently, that was painful.

“Fine,” He mumbled when his head had cleared. Luckily, Della seemed not to comment on his momentary condition (he felt a little silly about flopping like that).

There was a knock at the door. He sat up slowly, curiosity overtaking his want to lay down. There were only a few people it could be - but still. The door opened, and in walked Huey, Louie, and Webby. Well, that made sense. He felt a smile grace his beak at the comforting sight of his siblings.

“Hey, kids,” Della turned to them, greeting them with a smile. She stood up carefully (he realized he hadn’t even noticed her sit down on the edge of his bed). 

“Hey, mom,” Huey answered, with similar choruses coming from Louie and Webby. “How’s-“ 

“I’m okay,” Dewey cut his older brother off. This felt no worse than the aftermath of their usual dangerous adventures! 

_(A surprisingly harsh wince falling from his beak as his back brushed against the bed begged to differ.)_

“...Riiiight,” His younger brother spoke, an eyebrow raised. Dewey knew Louie was too good at sniffing out lies to believe him - but he opted to ignore that for the sake of his own pride. 

“Do you kids mind staying with Dewey while I get some rest? I’m sure he’d love to have your company right now,” Della spoke.

"Not at all!” Webby answered with a slight nod. 

He didn’t bother arguing against it. Besides knowing the argument would just give him a headache, he knew it was one he wouldn’t win. There were three of them, and only one of him.

“Great! I’ll be back in a few hours.” His mom started towards the door. She paused and turned back, “Oh! And don’t be surprised if Donald comes in. He’s been worried, you know him,”

Honestly, Dewey was surprised he hadn’t woken up to his uncle storming the room and demanding to see if he was okay. His uncle was perhaps one of the most protective people Dewey _knew_. 

With that out of the way, he watched Della turn and leave the room.

“Sooo,” Huey started. He fidgeted with his hands, a sign he was a bit nervous. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, you kinda looked - well, pretty not-good, last time we saw you.” Louie added on. He had both hands in his pockets, a signature Louie stance.

“I’m alright! C’mon, it wasn’t even that bad!” His voice was lined with slight annoyance. 

"I dunno, it looked pretty bad to us. You were really out of it the whole plane-ride home,” Even Webby spoke, concern glittering in his best friend’s eyes.

Dewey sighed lightly. “Guys, seriously, stop worrying. I’m Dewey _Duck_! A little rock isn’t gonna stop me,” 

“Well.. if you’re sure,” Webby was the first to concede, although he couldn’t tell if she believed him, or was just letting him win.

Jeez. Whatever, though, it was fine. Just like _he_ was.

“Can we get you anything? Water? A snack?” A brief pause, “The JWG says that water can help with head injuries-“ 

Louie moved over to Huey, leaning against him slightly to quiet him. “Please,” He huffed with a roll of his eyes, “Why would he want water? Here, you can have this pep,” 

Dewey’s beak fell just slightly as Louie pulled a pep (not just any pep- a _cherry_ pep) from his pocket and shoved it into his hands. 

"He can’t have _soda_ right now!” Huey squawked. “It’s not gonna help him at all-“

He tuned them out for a few moments, staring blankly down at the drink in his hands. 

“Uh- Dewey?” He felt a poke at his hand.

He yelped, dropping the pep by accident and looking quickly to whoever had poked him. Webby, it seemed. Dewey glanced at his brothers, and found that they’d stopped mid-argument, staring at him. He vaguely heard Webby shoot out a quick apology.

He felt his cheeks flush in slight embarrassment. “Uh-uhm-“ He cleared his throat, “Yeah?”

“You were spacing out?” Louie noted, raising an eyebrow again. Huey turned back to him, re-adjusting his hat.

“Yeah, are you okay? We can go get Uncle Scrooge or Mrs.B if you want-“ 

“I- uh- no! No, I’m fine. Thanks.” Dewey insisted yet again. He picked the pep Louie had given him back up (it hadn’t fallen far, luckily).

“Maybe it’d be a good idea to get someone anyways, just in case?” Webby suggested, although she was moreso talking to Huey than him. Dewey frowned.

“No!” He repeated, “I don’t need any help. Just-“ Dewey cut off, grasping for the words to explain how he felt.

“Just what?” His younger brother tilted his head slightly. He could feel his siblings’ eyes boring into him. 

“Why are you all being so- I don’t know - _nice?!”_ Dewey’s voice raised just a little. “I told you - I am _fine!_ I don’t need you guys to take care of me-“

There was a brief quietness in the room, and the expressions on his siblings’ faces had fallen slightly. He waited expectantly for an answer from them.

"We _know_ you’re fine.” Louie was the first to speak up. He had shoved his hands into his pockets again, and looked away. 

Dewey frowned again. “...What?”

Huey sighed next. “We were just- worried.” He didn’t meet Dewey‘s gaze either. “Dewey - it was... _scary_. Seeing you hurt like that.”

“..Yeah. You didn’t bounce back, like usual. It.." Webby spoke next, "...we didn’t know if you were okay,” She looked to him with a soft gaze. Dewey simply stared at his siblings, a little dumbfounded.

“Well- I’m okay now-“ He stammered quietly, but the fire behind his words was gone. 

“We don’t wanna see you get any worse,” His older brother’s voice cracked, just a little. He felt guilt creeping up his feathers, making them prickle. 

He took a moment to look at, and really look at, his siblings. All of them looked tired. _Really_ tired. Their expressions, even though not directly frowning, held an air of concern (and fear) to them. 

It was quiet again. He looked down to his blanket, which his hands had wrapped around the edges of unknowingly to him. “I’m sorry. I- I guess I didn’t really think of it like that.”

“It’s alright,” Webby gave a small shrug, “You just focus on getting better.” Small hums of agreement came from his brothers. He was surprised to find that none of them even seemed mad, or upset, when he looked back at them.

Dewey noticed his siblings sort of just - well - standing there. It was kind of awkward. He sighed, crossing his arms.

“You guys can sit down, if you want.” He paused and looked at the bed. “This thing is big enough for all four of us I think.” It was true. The bed was almost certainly a king-sized bed. It was huge, compared to his twin-sized bed he was used to. 

His siblings’ expressions lit up a little, smiles gracing their faces at the offer. Dewey tried to keep looking away defensively - but at the sight of their smiles, he couldn’t help but smile a little as well.

Louie climbed up onto the bed and settled beside him at his right side, while Huey settled by his other side. Webby sat across from them, legs crossed. Quiet conversation began within the group. For now, they kept off the topic of Dewey’s injuries (although he could still sense them eying him - just in case, he supposed).

It was comforting.

Maybe, just this _once_ , he’d allow them to coddle him.

**Author's Note:**

> this is so long for my writing i really dont know how i finished it 
> 
> uhh lemme know what u thought if u read it!! this is technically my first ducktales fanfiction :3


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